


Shadows of the Earth

by Zurrz



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Guardsmen Kageyama, M/M, Mentioned Oikawa Tooru
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-04 13:17:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13365507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zurrz/pseuds/Zurrz
Summary: These winters are long and harsh but we're safe in the city. Dozen freeze every night, they cry out for a monarch that doesn't care, but behind these walls we can live and prosper.We're safe in Karasuno.That's what we're told but don't believe them. The monarchy lies. The guardsmen lie. The citizens lie.I hold my tongue. I listen. Then I leave.No matter how high the wall, a crow can fly above it.OR: Kageyama Tobio smuggles people outside a tainted city, he only worries about his own survival and thinks he can do everything on his own.It seemed like a typical job of his, but this Decoy is a lot more trouble than he looks.





	1. Sneak Peek: Tobio's Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadows of the Earth is _finally_ here! I'm so excited, I've been looking forward to this for ages and it's finally here! Finally, finally! :D
> 
> So far this fic has seven chapters, but judging from my outline it's gonna end up at anywhere from 11-17 chapters long!
> 
> This "chapter" is just a little sneak peek into the AU it takes place in - be sure to sub if you'd like to see more! I will be updating with full length chapters soon!

Karasuno has been standing for… Who knows how long. Not me, it’s not my job to know and I don’t really care. We used to be a thriving city, ruled by a monarchy that was strong but fair with citizens who were spirited. Now we’re just known as “the Clipped City”. Not even birds can be bothered to fly overhead, and why would they? It’s not like there’s food littering the streets that hasn’t quickly been claimed by the citizenry. 

I've lived here my entire life, all twenty some-odd years of it, and I've never considered leaving. Maybe thought about it, these conditions are prone to idle thought of moving somewhere else, but in the end it's pointless. I'm not crazy enough to think I can survive outside the walls of Karasuno on my own. 

Luckily for me there are many who don't share that belief. I can understand that. Built into the peak of a mountain is the palace, all golden halls and gilded towers, but shit slides downhill and nothing past the palace is worth the effort, at least that’s what many of the citizens think.

You see, I'm a smuggler in my off hours. I don't smuggle clothing, or food, or even information, I smuggle people to the Outside. Past the protective walls of this city and out to who knows where. It's not my problem though, I can't change what people have gotten stuck in their heads. 

_It's safer Outside._

_There's more opportunity._

_We can survive._

And that's fair enough, survival is all that matters in the end after all, but to me… Well I figure I can do it all on my own. I've never needed anyone else to survive and things can stay that way. 

Or at least that's what I had always thought. 

And then I met a guy who went by the name ‘Decoy’. 

 

Ugh, what a dumbass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that! Sorry it's so short but I'm working on the actual chapters so the tradeoff was a tiny little preview. 
> 
> The actual fic is written in a different style so have no fear if this wasn't your taste! Thanks for reading and I hope to see you when Act One: Winter Sunshine begins!


	2. Act One: Winter Sunshine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter One: King of the Guard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote an AN on the sneak peek about it being short so I can focus on writing actual chapters but forgot to post it ahead of this one so here we go.

_King of the Guard._ That’s what they call him, with venom on their tongues and thorns on their lips. _King_. Of course it bothers him, there had been a time in training where he thought these men would be his teammates and now they only look on him with disdain. Is it wrong to have high expectations of those whose duty it is to defend the city? Kageyama Tobio doesn’t think so. If he is performing at his absolute best then everyone else should be as well. It was these expectations that made the fellow guards turn on him. 

More than that he’s bothered by the name they chose. _King_. If the actual King of Karasuno got word of this chances are he wouldn’t be particularly happy to be sharing his title with some no name guardsmen, not that his opinion would change if Kageyama was a Lord’s son from the Silver Quarter. 

Far from a King, Kageyama Tobio was a member of the City Guard. Not Guard Captain, not Lieutenant, but some insignificantly ranked Patroller in charge of making sure no one stole from the stands in the marketplace. But he was good at his job, with a nose for lies and eyes that caught suspicious figures in their gaze with ease, he’d even been offered promotion several times only to turn it down with some half-assed excuse about being happy with his current position. 

That wasn’t quite the truth. 

A higher rank meant more responsibility, meaning more hours dedicated to work, meaning less time for his… extracurricular activities. See, there are two things high in demand on the Karasuno Black Market. The first is any and all products made from wood or linen, anything that can be used or burned to create warmth. Often these objects are stolen from lords and ladies, filched from their homes or mugged from their bodies and sold at a steady upmark by those in the business. 

The second was freedom: a much harder to acquire commodity but if you knew the right person, or were that person, it was something that could be sold with a lot of skill and some luck. Kageyama just so happened to have both qualities. 

Smuggling people from the city was easier for him than he had initially expected, and though his _shiver_ mentor had taught him well it still came as a surprise. Successes stacked higher and higher, boosting his confidence. This next meetup was with a new client, probably his last one of the year, and already the person was late. Said mentor would have said to him _A late consumer is a shady consumer, get out of there._

True as those words probably were he couldn’t bring himself to leave, it was a stupid thought but this client had promised a hefty sum in exchange for his services - it was likely the last job he’d get this season so some extra money to last the winter would be helpful. 

_Never sacrifice your freedom for gold._ But that idiot had enough money to last him a lifetime - he didn’t get it. There was no freedom in this world if you didn’t have the gold for it. Kageyama may not have been interested in buying his freedom the way his clients were, but he certainly understood that the ability to purchase what you needed to survive was a freedom all its own. 

Brewing over that overconfident, self satisfied mentor of his wasn't getting him anywhere, but it was then that Kageyama Tobio had his thoughts interrupted. 

“U-um. I’m looking for… Uh, Crow?” The voice came out as barely a squeak, nervous and flighty. Kageyama turned to face the newcomer, eyebrows knit together. This client was tiny, a scrawny kid with a cloak drawn close to his face. The very image of a suspicious person. Great, he was a complete dumbass. 

Kageyama took a step forward, not missing the flinch of the other boy, and extended his hand. “Crow. And what can I call you?” He looked down on the cloaked figure, hands popped out from beneath the cloak, pointer fingers poking together as he thought. 

“Uh, I guess… Decoy?”

“Is that a question?”

“N-no! No Sir! I just - uh - I’m….” He squirmed in place, arms crossed over his stomach. No way, this kid was nervous just talking to him? What the hell! What, did he expect this to be a low stress situation? Oh yeah, we’re only breaking the law doing something which holds the punishment of execution - low stress at it’s finest!

“Calm down, Decoy, we’re just talking for now. Untangle yourself from that cloak, you look like a criminal.” Kageyama gestured for the shorter one to follow him, footsteps silent on the stones beneath them. These were the same streets he patrolled during the day, but now they were much sadder. People huddled together, trying to generate any warmth they could beneath crumbled buildings and sparse pieces of wood. A child cried, clutching the rags worn by its mother. It was a reality he had long ago learned to accept that many of these people wouldn’t survive the Winter. They may make it through tonight but the cold would claim them before long. 

There was a whimper behind him, it seemed Decoy wasn’t as acclimated to this state as he was. “This is awful.” He sounded like he was crying. It was true that it was a horrible sight, painful and sad, but any kindness shown was a waste of time. Telling someone it was going to be okay when it wasn’t… That wasn’t true kindness, it was placating some need for yourself. 

“Don’t think about it - there’s nothing we can do.” 

But he didn’t listen, crouching down before a child. The child backed away, eyes round and fearful, but Decoy moved slowly and deliberately. He untied the cloak that rested on his small shoulders and draped it over the (somehow) smaller person. The action was full of care, like he had experience with children. Siblings perhaps?

“How can you not care?” Decoy had asked as Kageyama dragged him away, orange hair a mess from it’s time under a hood and brown eyes confused if not perhaps a bit suspicious. “You’re a guardsmen aren’t you, isn’t protecting the people your job?”

“You’re an idiot if that’s what you think. Sure we want to serve the people, but the only one that really does that is the Guard Captain. He can stand up to the Queen, she relies on him, but the rest of us are just…” He shrugged noncommittally, “Expendable.”

The redhead stood up on the balls of his feet, trying his best to look intimidating. It… wasn’t very effective. “I might be an idiot but at least I’m not a liar. I don’t believe for a moment that you’re as tough as you pretend to be. You’ve looked really sad the entire time we’ve been walking here - like you’re going to cry.” 

Kageyama blanched at the comment, unsure how to respond. 

“Idiot, it’s just because I was hoping for a client that wouldn’t be too much trouble but I’m stuck with your dumb ass.” He turned away from Decoy, embarrassed to meet his eye. “Whatever,” Kageyama jammed his hands into the pockets of his wool coat, the navy material immediately making him feel overheated. He toyed with the buttons of his coat with his thumbs before sighing and turning back around. “We should go - we have matters to discuss.” 

“Lead the way!” The small man chirped, smiling for reasons Kageyama could only begin to guess at.


End file.
